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In Appreciation of Teachers
As I got our end of the year gifts ready to send to school, I had the sinking feeling that they were totally inadequate. Even with a handwritten card from my kids, the token gifts just didn’t seem to express what I really wanted to say. I wanted to thank the teachers for not only teaching my kids, but for also caring about them and taking care of them throughout the school year.
Everyone knows that teachers have a lot of things on their plate between teaching the required skills and preparing kids for standardized tests . Over the past two years that my daughter has been in elementary school, I have realized that teachers do so much more than what is listed on their job description and there have been many days when a teacher has taken the extra effort with one of my kids.
At the beginning of the year, my daughter had a particularly hard day adjusting to first grade and her teacher e-mailed me that night. She wanted to make sure that Laurel knew how much they enjoyed having her in the classroom and to see how she could help her adjust. On another day, my daughter forgot her lunch and I didn’t make it to school with her food before lunchtime started. Her teacher shared her own lunch with Laurel and reassured me that I was not the worst mom in the world.
When I came to volunteer one day in the middle of the year, my son’s teacher met me at the door. She had a huge smile on her face as she told my son read a book to her this morning for the first time. The look on her face brought me to tears – I honestly am not sure who was more excited her or me.
I know that when I leave the school after volunteering for a few hours, I am exhausted both physically and mentally. But most teachers stay patient even when they are tired or not feeling well. Each time I am at school, I see teacher’s giving a child extra hugs on a tough day, helping kids learn to negotiate playground politics, tying shoes, putting on Band-Aids and making sure that the kids wear their coats on the playground during the winter.
I think what amazes me the most is that teachers and teacher’s assistants go above and beyond for every one of their 20-some-odd kids. All day, every day, throughout the years. To every teacher, teacher’s assistant, substitute or parent volunteer, I just want to thank you for everything that you do for our children.
Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.
From Trike to Two Wheeler
Jennifer Gregory left Florida almost 11 years ago to escape the heat and enjoys living in a place where the seasons change. She lives in Youngsville, N.C., which she usually refers to as north of Wake Forest, and has been married to her husband for almost 10 years. As the mom of two kids and three dogs, her house is filled with lots of joyful noise and barking. Her daughter (7) is convinced that she will be a princess when she grows up and her son (5) has aspirations of being the next Dale Jr. After years of writing software documentation for various companies, she "retired" when her daughter was born to become a stay at home mom. Now that her kids are in school, she has finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. She spends her mornings as a freelance writer and her afternoons hanging out with her kids. The only things she misses about living in Florida are her friends and family, Publix fried chicken and going to Florida Gator football games.
Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.
Comments
What a great tribute to teachers! My friends and I have been talktink that every year our children should get Mary Poppins for a teacher. In my day (I am SOOOO old!!!), you got the teacher you got. The overwhelming majority were terrific. Some you hated from the first day of class but by the end of the year, you realized that they really taught you important things. Some were just so-so, going through the motions with as little effort as possible. But they were the minute minority.
In every workplace, there is a spectrum of performance running from barely breathing to taking everyone's breath away. The same could be said of the teaching profession, but fortunately the spectrum seems to be skewed toward the latter when considering teachers.
Thank you so much for this beautiful piece. As a teacher, I can tell you that all of the teachers I know care deeply about their students. We rejoice with them over their triumphs (like your son reading a book!) and encourage them when they are struggling with a task. There are mommy skills (we buy lots of bandaids) and cerebral challenges. Our minds race over dinners and weekends wondering how we can improve a lesson or reach a student better. We tear up as they leave the classroom on the last day of school. We aren't perfect, but we try to do our best everyday with your child. Thank you for thinking of us. Go Gators!